To mitigate ad blockers, YouTube is disabling videos with ad blockers. The video streaming and sharing platform was about to take action in June 2023. However, back then, the platform only commenced with a small-scale experiment of stopping ad blockers. Nonetheless, the platform is acting globally now, preventing non-subscribers from viewing videos without ads.
Users With Ad Blockers Are Seeing Pop-Ups
Several reports suggest that users with ad blockers are seeing a pop-up that says, “Ad blockers violate YouTube’s Terms of Service.” Further, the pop-up informs that the user may be using a tool to surpass ads, which helps the platform make the videos available to everyone. “Video playback is blocked unless YouTube is allowlisted or the ad blocker is disabled,” adds the pop-up.
Upgrade To Premium Or Watch Ads
Ultimately, the platform wants those with ad blockers to either watch videos with ads or take a YouTube Premium subscription. In the United States, the premium membership, which unlocks features like background playback and access to YouTube Music, costs $13.99. In India, the service costs Rs. 129 per month. In India, the platform often runs promotions wherein it offers Premium membership for a discounted price.
Earlier this year, the platform introduced unskippable video ads to the YouTube TV app. It also began experimenting with longer ads for TVs. On mobile and web, YouTube already shows two different types of ads. However, it is through these ads that the platform pays billions of dollars to creators from across the world. It isn’t easy to sustain a free-for-all video streaming platform. Hence, YouTube is implementing several techniques to ensure its terms of service are fulfilled.
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